AU: Graham doesn't die in 1x07. Everything in this collection is a fluff piece I wrote because angst or something else stuck my muse. I always accept Gremma fluff prompts so feel free to PM me with one or leave it in the review box. These particular fluffs are not in chronological order, but order written. Disclaimer: I own nothing! I have a whole long disclaimer that I like using but basically, if I owned, Graham would not be dead, Neal and Bae would not be the same person, and Jonas Armstrong would play Robin Hood. Since none of the above are true, you can see that I don't.
prompt: Christmas traditions
prompted by: arianakristine
The snow is falling, thick and heavy, as Emma sits at Henry's castle, all bundled up from the cold, looking up to the clouded sky.
That's how Graham finds her, that Christmas Eve, and he sits next to his Savior-Princess girlfriend who is just starting to believe and hands over a thermos of hot cocoa with cinnamon that Mary Margaret - Snow, he knows, but Emma does not quite accept - had sent with him when he'd gotten to the apartment looking for her so they could have a romantic holiday meal at his place.
"What're you doing out here, Em?" he asks, as she takes a sip of the cocoa.
"When I was nine," she says, "I was at this foster home on Christmas Eve. It was one of the better ones, but they couldn't afford to get us a bunch of gifts or anything. Anyway, the mom had grown up a lot like we did, and she knew how hard it was… She told us a story. That if we made a wish on the first star we saw on Christmas Eve, someday it would come true. The other kids… They wished for video games and toys and there was one girl that wished to be adopted. I wished… I wished to get an A on the math test I'd taken just before break. And it was stupid, but… I got that A. And every year since I've gone out looking for a star on Christmas Eve, to make a wish."
"It's too cloudy tonight, babe," he bumps her shoulder with his, "C'mon. Let's get over to my place and get you warmed up."
"Graham, it's the only Christmas tradition I've got," she says, her voice suddenly smaller than he's ever heard it.
"And I don't have any," he smiles sadly at her, "But we can make new Christmas traditions. Together."
"Yeah?" her eyes brighten a little and she smiles back at him.
"Yeah," he agrees, offering a hand to pull her to her feet. Just as she takes it, the clouds shift, and the most stars he's ever seen above Storybrooke are visible.
"Look!" she says, excited, pointing, "Quick, make a wish!"
She's staring up at the stars, making her wish, oblivious to the fact that his eyes are on her. He's never seen her this happy, and she's beautiful in the starlight, almost glowing.
He looks quickly to the stars, but decides against it. He doesn't need to make a wish. She is all he needs.